You can never have too many condiments. And the best ones are the the ones you make yourself using fresh, organic ingredients grown as locally as you can get ’em. We’ve developed a certain obsession with Asian sauces and condiments of late, and this Parsi Tomato Chutney fits the bill perfectly. The recipe is derived from My Bombay Kitchen, a collection of Parsi home recipes by Niloufer Ichaporia King, by way of The Traveler’s Lunchbox, by way of The Wednesday Chef, who says, “I could almost guarantee that you will find yourself hoarding it, instead of giving it away as you might think you would after lining up all your neatly-filled crimson jars just after filling them.” Sign us up!
Niloufer Ichaporia King’s Parsi Tomato Chutney
Source: The Traveler’s Lunchbox
Makes about four 8- to 10-ounce jars; recipe can easily be doubled
3 pounds (1.5 kilos) ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup finely-julienned peeled ginger (about one 2.5-inch/6-cm-long piece)
1/2 cup thinly-sliced garlic (about one large head)
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) cider vinegar
1/2 to 1 cup (75 to 150 grams) raisins (optional)
2 cups (400 grams) turbinado sugar
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 small cinnamon stick
4 whole cloves
1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons salt
1. Open a window or two in your kitchen. Place all the ingredients in a heavy nonreactive pot and, over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, stirring well. Continue to cook, stirring every five to seven minutes (more frequently towards the end of the cooking time), until the chutney has the consistency of a soft jam, about an hour. Be careful not to scorch the chutney.
2. While the chutney is cooking, sterilize four or five glass jars and lids in boiling water or a hot oven. When the chutney has finished cooking, ladle it carefully into the clean jars and quickly screw on the lids. Turn the jars upside-down to cool. If you plan to eat the chutney within a few weeks of making it, there’s no need to can it; simply keep it in the fridge.
(via The Wednesday Chef)